Last night we sat in on the monthly meeting of the Delridge Neighborhoods District Council, one of two district councils in West Seattle, each including representatives of neighborhood groups and other major noncommercial organizations. This time around, the Delridge Council hosted two guests from City Hall: Council President Richard Conlin (who’s made two other high-level appearances in WS recently, at the Southwest District Council and at the Alki Community Council), and Mayor Nickels’ community-outreach director Pamela Green. Both had a lot to say – as did the regular attendees – and we’re going to break it out into several updates, starting with this one about two ways the city’s looking for YOUR opinion right now:

Some of Conlin’s discussion points were reruns of what we heard at the two other WS appearances linked in the previous paragraph. However, when a meeting participant asked him about the latest outlook on the likelihood of another Pro Parks Levy (discussed here recently), after reiterating that a majority of councilmembers favor the idea (while the mayor does not), Conlin revealed that a public-opinion poll is “out in the field” this week, and the council expects a report within two weeks, at which time he says they’ll sit down, figure out what they want to propose, then meet with the mayor to see what can be worked out.

On the subject of other levies in the wings, Conlin said he thinks a Pike Place Market levy is a sure bet for the ballot this year (by the way, PP reps are supposed to be in WS right now handing out daffodils), but not the a levy for Seattle Center.

Now, the other matter in which the city is seeking your opinion: You’ve probably heard about the city “Customer Service Initiative.” Green expounded on this at length, talking about how difficult it is for citizens to figure out what number to call and who to talk to to get action on various issues (especially if it’s not something high-profile like a road problem for 684-ROAD). She says the city now has a system to root out voice mailboxes that are full either because no one’s clearing them or because their “owners” changed jobs and the phnoes never got shut off.

As part of an analysis of how else to fix the customer-service crisis — she invited all Seattleites to fill out a three-question survey you’ll find on this page. (During this discussion, Delridge Council chair Pete Spalding from Pigeon Point noted he’s had better luck with online requests for help, when they’re available.)

More to come from the Delridge meeting later today, including an invitation for West Seattleites to join in an upcoming South Park celebration.